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MEDIA RELEASE: Australia’s public accountants to benchmark international standard in professional services

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

A new online Professional Practice Quality Assurance (PPQA) system will provide critical year-to-year data on the ethical and professional standards of Australian accountants, the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) and the Professional Standards Councils jointly announced today.
Since 2001, professional accountants have been required to comply with PPQA in order to meet professional and ethical standards including the Code of Ethics, conformity with accounting, assurance and auditing standards, terms of engagement, dealing with client monies, quality control for firms and continuous professional education.
Initial trials of the online system reduced the average PPQA review time from five hours to one hour and 40 minutes, creating significant time savings for accountants in practice.
"The current paper-based system is unwieldy, time consuming and limited in its ability to interrogate data and assess individual member needs," said Andrew Conway, chief executive officer for the Institute of Public Accountants.
"The new online system will not only increase member compliance with ethical and professional standards, it will improve data for both the IPA and the member being reviewed, allowing for self-assessment and self-correction. The improvement in accounting standards can only be of benefit to clients."
PPQA is a rigorous assessment where members are required to answer up to 500 questions relating to the running of their practice and compliance with ethical and professional standards, along with regulatory requirements. It is used to improve the quality of the work performed by accountants and to ensure that they are acting ethically and professionally in their dealings with clients.
The new online system makes it simpler for accountants to engage and comply with these standards along with reducing the difficulty in adhering to regulatory requirements.
"The Professional Standards Councils have provided a Star Grant for the development of the new PPQA system so that clients and customers can have an increased level of confidence in the rigour and professionalism of Australian accountants," said Madeleine Ogilvie, Star Grants Committee Chair, Professional Standards Councils. "This new initiative will not only set new professional and ethical standards for practising public accountants, it has also gained international recognition from the International Federation of Accountants."
The pilot project has been presented to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to considerable favourable interest. IFAC has advised that it wishes to add the project to its Small to Medium Practices committee work program. IFAC consists of 164 member bodies across 125 countries.
The International Federation of Accountants', Giancarlo Attolini, chair of the Small and Medium Practices Committee said that, "The Institute of Public Accountants has invested considerably to the streamlining of quality assurance reviews for its members. The new system will help to increase the quality of the reviews and easily identify areas for improvement. The standard set by this new innovation has the potential to be a world's best practice online quality assurance review process, with international relevance."
Applications are currently being taken for the next round of Star Grants. Applicants must be a participatory member of an occupational association with a Cover of Excellence Scheme to be eligible.

A new online Professional Practice Quality Assurance (PPQA) system will provide critical year-to-year data on the ethical and professional standards of Australian accountants, the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) and the Professional Standards Councils jointly announced today.

Since 2001, professional accountants have been required to comply with PPQA in order to meet professional and ethical standards including the Code of Ethics, conformity with accounting, assurance and auditing standards, terms of engagement, dealing with client monies, quality control for firms and continuous professional education.

Initial trials of the online system reduced the average PPQA review time from five hours to one hour and 40 minutes, creating significant time savings for accountants in practice.

"The current paper-based system is unwieldy, time consuming and limited in its ability to interrogate data and assess individual member needs," said Andrew Conway, chief executive officer for the Institute of Public Accountants.

"The new online system will not only increase member compliance with ethical and professional standards, it will improve data for both the IPA and the member being reviewed, allowing for self-assessment and self-correction. The improvement in accounting standards can only be of benefit to clients."

PPQA is a rigorous assessment where members are required to answer up to 500 questions relating to the running of their practice and compliance with ethical and professional standards, along with regulatory requirements. It is used to improve the quality of the work performed by accountants and to ensure that they are acting ethically and professionally in their dealings with clients.

The new online system makes it simpler for accountants to engage and comply with these standards along with reducing the difficulty in adhering to regulatory requirements.

"The Professional Standards Councils have provided a Star Grant for the development of the new PPQA system so that clients and customers can have an increased level of confidence in the rigour and professionalism of Australian accountants," said Madeleine Ogilvie, Star Grants Committee Chair, Professional Standards Councils. "This new initiative will not only set new professional and ethical standards for practising public accountants, it has also gained international recognition from the International Federation of Accountants."

The pilot project has been presented to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to considerable favourable interest. IFAC has advised that it wishes to add the project to its Small to Medium Practices committee work program. IFAC consists of 164 member bodies across 125 countries.

The International Federation of Accountants', Giancarlo Attolini, chair of the Small and Medium Practices Committee said that, "The Institute of Public Accountants has invested considerably to the streamlining of quality assurance reviews for its members. The new system will help to increase the quality of the reviews and easily identify areas for improvement. The standard set by this new innovation has the potential to be a world's best practice online quality assurance review process, with international relevance."

Applications are currently being taken for the next round of Star Grants. Applicants must be a participatory member of an occupational association with a Cover of Excellence Scheme to be eligible.



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